A cable with cutting-edge technology, connecting Portugal and Latin America has already arrived in Sines. This project is possible thanks to the decisive role of the education and research community of the National Scientific Computing Unit (FCCN) of Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia (FCT).
EllaLink has announced that its state-of-the-art, low-latency submarine cable system has already docked in Sines, from where the connection to Latin America will be established. The infrastructure should be fully operational in the second quarter of this year, providing an unprecedented level of international connectivity between the two continents, which will reach Europe through Portugal.
The creation of this infrastructure is regarded as one of the great bets of the Portuguese Presidency of the European Union. The operation involves an investment of 150 million euros, which is financed in about half by “anchor clients” (Consortium Bella, Cabo Verde Telecom and EMACOM). The remaining 50% of the investment comes from the pan-European investment fund Marguerite II.
EllaLink will open an “aisle” for data transmission between the two continents, providing new opportunities for the European market. In addition to the first high-speed direct connection by submarine cable between Europe and Latin America, the EllaLink system also includes several land routes that connect strategic Data Centers in Lisbon, Madrid, Marseille, São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro and Fortaleza, in partnership with Equinix and Interxion.
The role of the FCCN Unit
The Ella Link submarine cable arrived in Portugal on January 6th. The entry point of this structure in the European space is in Sines, which thus hosts the landing station of the EllaLink cable. The academic and research community played a decisive role in this project, since the implementation of this structure was possible thanks to the funding of the BELLA program (Building the Europe Link with Latin America), with the aim of creating a research and education network between the two continents for the system’s entire lifetime.
The Bella Program is led in consortium by several national education and research networks. The National Scientific Computing Unit of Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia (FCCN Unit), while the Portuguese NREN (National Research and Education Network) is the national representative in this consortium which is also formed by the Regional Academic Networks – GÉANT (Europe) and RedCLARA (Latin America) and by the homologous NRENs of Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, France, Germany, Italy and Spain.
Latency reduction
Over the last few decades, the consumption of digital products has triggered the need for connectivity between countries and continents: from simple voice transmission to the real-time transmission of streaming videos. The future should follow the same path, taking into account all the future applications that will be possible thanks to the implementation of 5G around the world. These applications require less latency, that is, the reduction of the time that information takes to pass through the network, on the path traveled between users, Data Centers or platforms. In this context, latency values have become an essential factor for the digital world.
By creating a direct route between Europe and Latin America, avoiding passing through third countries, EllaLink reduces latency by 50%, compared to the current infrastructure, reaching a real value of less than 60ms between Portugal and Brazil.
The impact for the user
On the other hand, the cutting-edge technology used in the EllaLink system guarantees high quality access to telecommunications services and applications, through a direct, high-speed connection with very low latency. This will be beneficial not only for all telecom platforms, but also for cloud services, access to content, all types of digital businesses and even the gaming industry.
During the first few months of 2021, EllaLink will strengthen its network so that it can be operational by the end of the second quarter. Connections to Madeira and Cape Verde are planned, as well as to Marseille, which will allow for expanded connectivity with Africa, Asia and the Middle East. Other potential points of connection with Mauritania, Morocco, French Guiana and the Canary Islands are already in view.
“Like so many other areas of our society, Science also increasingly depends on the access and ability to apply digital technologies. Corporal Ella”, highlights the member of the Board of Directors of Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia (FCT), Nuno Feixa Rodrigues.
“Science has repeatedly demonstrated its central role in creating solutions in the most diverse areas of application, helping to pave the way for solid and sustained human and technological development. Currently, this mission increasingly depends on the ability to collaborate across scientific areas, cultures, countries and oceans, as well as access to advanced digital technologies. The EllaLink cable exponentially increases the potential for collaboration in Science and Innovation between Europe and Latin America, through an infrastructure which, in addition to the important capacity for exchanging data between continents, will also be a Science instrument, capable of collecting data of the ocean floor and the water body around it”, he emphasizes, highlighting FCT’s commitment: “EllaLink is, above all, a scientific challenge in many fields of knowledge that FCT is ready to embrace, involving and stimulating the participation of the entire national scientific community.”